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“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”--- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Orthodoxy (1908) is a book by G. K. Chesterton that has become a classic of Christian apologetics. Chesterton considered this book a companion to his other work, Heretics. In the book's preface Chesterton states the purpose is to "attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it." In it, Chesterton presents an original view of Christian religion. He sees it as the answer to natural human needs, the "answer to a riddle" in his own words, and not simply as an arbitrary truth received from somewhere outside the boundaries of human experience.

The book was written when Chesterton was an Anglican. He converted to Catholicism 14 years later. The title, Orthodoxy, is meant to avoid such sectarian questions.

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About the Author

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) better known as G. K. Chesterton, was an English writer, lay theologian, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, literary and art critic, biographer, and Christian apologist. Chesterton is often referred to as the "prince of paradox." Time magazine, in a review of a biography of Chesterton, observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out."

Chesterton is well known for his fictional priest-detective Father Brown, and for his reasoned apologetics. Even some of those who disagree with him have recognized the wide appeal of such works as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. Chesterton, as a political thinker, cast aspersions on both Progressivism and Conservatism, saying, "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected." Chesterton routinely referred to himself as an "orthodox" Christian, and came to identify this position more and more with Catholicism, eventually converting to Roman Catholicism from High Church Anglicanism. George Bernard Shaw, Chesterton's "friendly enemy" according to Time, said of him, "He was a man of colossal genius." Biographers have identified him as a successor to such Victorian authors as Matthew Arnold, Thomas Carlyle, Cardinal John Henry Newman, and John Ruskin.

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I have read almost 4 books by G. K. Chesterton thus far; and Orthodoxy is a masterpiece. The best of what I have read from him yet. Witty, hilarious, intellectually astute--Chesterton is in fine form throughout. And though Orthodoxy is heady you will find that Chesterton's humor and skill with the pen makes it an almost addictive read. His paradoxical manner of framing big ideas, his undeniable ability to wield "common" sense as a weapon, his way of speaking to universal human experiences--together makes him one of the most enjoyable writers of his time. And he's not pulling any punches with the philosophers of his day either.

In the introduction, Chesterton self-deprecatingly describes himself as a man who sent out from England to explore new lands, but gets blown off course in his travels and unknowingly arrives back in downtown London--where he then proceeds to claim this "new land" for England! Chesterton then charts his spiritual journey from agnosticism to Christianity and how he unknowingly discovered this "new doctrine" on his own--only to find out, much to his surprise, that it was nothing more than the old Christian doctrine which has been believed for thousands of years. Chesterton is a late comer to the party, and he doesn't mind admitting that fact throughout!

Chesterton rails against intellectualism--against the scholastics and against the George Bernard Shaw types. The atheist scientist who says there is no transcendent meaning to this thing called life. Grown up skeptics and modernized "experts" who care little for the world. In short Chesterton realizes that the fairy tales that he knew as a child, that wonder he felt within the deepest part of him when he was young, the feeling that the grass was green because it was "supposed to be green"--were actually all true. The reason the tales of the lady and the dragon, or jack and the beanstalk resonated with him so much as a child because they spoke to a certain human truth--an internal testimony, that there is something more than just molecules and chance. There had to be something more. So Chesterton figures out an understanding of original sin, of creation, of a transcendent God, and of the archetypal tale because it was really true--the story of God coming into the world to bring man back to Himself. Chesterton is unabashedly romantic, and he rejoices to find that Christianity is as well.

In the chapter that perhaps hit me the hardest (The Flag of the World), Chesterton confronts exactly what our posture as Christians needs to be towards the world. It cannot be escapism or pessimism; an unhealthy desire to withdraw from the darkness of the world: "For our Titanic purposes of faith and revolution, what we need is not the cold acceptance of the world as a compromise, but some way in which we can heartily hate and heartily love it. We do not want joy and anger to neutralize each other and produce a surly contentment; we want a fiercer delight and a fiercer discontent. We have to feel the universe at once as an ogre' castle, to be stormed, and yet as our own cottage, to which we can return at evening." Wow. That is romance in writing--and ointment to my own personal numbness. Another one: "The point is not that this world is too sad to love or too glad not to love; the point is that when you do love a thing, its gladness is a reason for loving it, and its sadness a reason for loving it more." "A man's friend leaves him as he is: his wife loves him and is always trying to turn him into somebody else."

This is a great book, and I am already doing a second pass through it because there is so much in it that I missed. Chesterton is medicinal to the ills of a modern world--and Orthodoxy in particular has lost no degree of relevance in the century that has past since its composition.

Do NOT read this book if you are not ready to re-read a third of the sentences, as the words are sometimes long, laborious, and archaic. This is a fault of our age, however, and the points are best made in the voice of Chesterton himself. Bear this burden well, however, and you will be blessed.Chesterton has a way of inverting and reversing commonly-held viewpoints and exposing their failings. Christianity is God becoming man so that He as a perfect man can bear the punishment of us all. How absurd, and yet it is true.

Reading the works of G.K. Chesterton is always rewarding. His eloquence and mastery of our language has few equals.

Orthodoxy offers the reader Chesterton's explanation of his belief in the truth of Christianity and the falsehood of secularism and Eastern religions. He begins not with reasons for one having faith, or even historical evidence of Christianity, but rather with an explanation of how he arrived at the conclusion that truth and the meaning and purpose of creation comes to us from God. His explanation is masterful and timeless. It is as relevant today, in our day, as it was when he penned the words over a century ago.

The title of G. K. Chesterton's book, "Orthodoxy", made me expect at first a dry outline of the accepted tenets of Christianity. I expected him to delineate what we believe; I didn't expect him to show with such clarity and common-sense why we believe it.He didn't begin from the perspective that Christianity was true. Instead, almost by process of elimination, he proved a hundred dead-ends to be not true, and further showed that what was lacking in each of them was present in the truth of Christianity.He didn't start from the church as we know it today and work backwards, needing to strip it of controversy and confusion before he could reach a collection of pure facts - like one chipping away at a jewel to try to determine its components. Instead he began as if Christianity was just being discovered, describing the shining delight of the jewel when first seen.Instead of answering questions about Christianity, he asked questions that the human heart has always asked - only to find that Christianity was the answer to all of them.

Chesterton displays a tremendous mastery of irony and the subtle contrast of meanings. But he way over does it. A little bit of spice can be good, but when it is added by the fistful it is hard to taste anything else. One can appreciate the genius of Chesterton, but if seems like he wanted the reader to be overwhelmed by it. Well, overwhelming it is, but not in a pleasant way.

Chesterton is a master of the English language which comes at no surprise since he has written thousands of pieces throughout his life. Orthodoxy is a must read for any Christian or someone embarking the Christian path such as myself, Chesterton does not simply spin his own spiritual journey to Christ, but I would count Orthodoxy and Chesterton's words as part of my journey to Christ. This is a timeless piece, Chesterton is a man outside time, part of this world but not of it. He not only explains the sanity of religion but how Christianity is literally the perfect fit for truth and that orthodoxy is the way of a healthy life. The arguments in this book is more of a confirmation and healing to the mind and helps one better argue the finer points for traditional Christianity. This is certainly recommended as not only is it a timeless piece written in a fashion that so remarkably demonstrates a master writers fluidity of argument without any signs of rigidy, it is a piece that transcends the medium of written word and while reading this I felt as though I was hearing a lecture or in conversation by the great teacher and brother that is G.K. Chesterton.